Earliest Known Versions of 'Cinderella'

'Ashenputtel' by Arthur Rackham (Folio Society edition of ‘Grimms Fairy Tales’)

With ‘Cinderella’ being one of the more popular fairytales, and with variations that exist in various corners of the world, it may come as a surprise to discover that one of the oldest known variants of Cinderella is not of European origin but a Chinese fairytale.

‘Ye Xian’ (also known as ‘Yeh Shen’) was written around 850 by Duan Chengshi, a Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty.

The story is set sometime before the Han Dynasty, which ruled from around 200BC, and is set in the caves of southern China.

A cave chief, Wu, takes two wives, as was the custom back then, and each one is blessed with a baby girl. But one wife falls ill and dies, and a few days later, Chief Wu also dies.

As the chief died without any male heirs, another man takes control of the tribe, and the remaining wife loses her priveleged position along with servants to help her care for her daughter and stepdaughter.

The orphan infant, Ye Xian, grows to be a beautiful and good-hearted child.

But her stepmother, jealous that Ye Xian is prettier than her own daughter, gives Ye Xian the hardest, most unpleasant chores.

Ye Xian isn’t completely on her own for she has a most unlikely companion, a very large fish with golden eyes, which lives in the river near her home.

Ye Xian and the magic fish that grants her wishes - Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

The fish isn’t any ordinary fish, but a guardian sent by the spirit of Ye Xian’s mother to watch over the girl.

Unfortunately, Ye Xian’s stepsister sees her with the fish and tells her mother. Angry that Ye Xian has kept a secret from her, the stepmother kills the fish.

While Ye Xian grieves the loss of her dear fish, her only friend, she is visited by the spirit of an ancestor who tells her to find the bones of the fish for they are magical, and the fish’s spirit still resides in them.

The ancestor’s spirit instructs Ye Xian to bury the fish bones in the four corners of her bedroom, and whatever she wishes for will come true.

Ye Xian finds the fish bones and secretly buries them in her room.

With the approach of the spring festival, Ye Xian is kept busy with the cooking and cleaning. How she longs to go the festival where the local young men and woman will gather to, hopefully, choose the one they will marry.

But the stepmother doesn’t want the beautiful Ye Xian there as she wants to find a husband for her own daughter.

Giving Ye Xian extra work to do, the stepmother and her daughter, dressed in their finery, leave to join the banquet at the festivities.

Quickly going to the fish bones, Ye Xian asks if there is somewhere she can borrow clothes to wear to the banquet. She opens her eyes to find herself dressed in a gown of azure blue, with a cloak of kingfisher feathers. And on her diminutive feet, a pair of beautiful slippers woven from gold threads.

'Of Kingfishers and Bones' - Ye Xian in her kingfisher finery - Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

The spirit of the bones warns her not to lose the slippers, and Yi Xian promises she will be careful.

At the banquet, Yi Xian is the centre of attention, with many wondering as to the identity of the lovely girl.

Then Yi Xian overhears her stepsister saying to the stepmother how much the stranger resembles Yi Xian, and she panics.

Running as fast as she can down the mountainside, she loses one of the slippers. At once, her fine clothes turn back to rags. But she still has the other golden slipper.

She returns the slipper to the bones of the fish, promising she will find the missing one, but the bones are silent, and Yi Xian believes she’s lost her only friend.

After hiding the golden slipper in the straw of her bedding, she cries herself to sleep.

Meanwhile, a villager finds the other golden slipper and sells it to a merchant, who, in turn, presents it as a gift to the king of an island kingdom.

Entranced by the small slipper, he decides to find the woman who owns the slipper. But it proves too small to fit any of the ladies of his kingdom.

So, the king orders the search be widened to include those who live in the caves by the countryside as that is where the slipper was found. But he soon realises this will take many months.

He thinks of a plan, to place the slipper in a pavilion by the road near where it had been found and to then announce that the shoe is to be returned to its owner.

The king and his men then settle down in a nearby hiding place, waiting for a woman with small feet to claim the slipper.

Throughout the day, every woman in the area comes to try the slipper, even Yi Xian’s stepmother and stepsister, but not Yi Xian; she’d been told to stay home.

As day turns to night, weary but undaunted, the king remains in his hiding place, and his patience is finally rewarded.

In the dark of night, a young woman, clad in rags, makes her careful way to the pavilion, and inspects the slipper before taking it and leaving.

At first, the king is annoyed at her audacity until he catches a glimpse of her sweet features. Then he notices her small feet, and signals to his men to follow her.

Back home, Yi Xian is about to hide the slipper with the other one when there is a knock on the door.

Despite being uncertain because of the lateness of the hour, Yi Xian reluctantly goes to the door, and is shocked and frightened to find a king and his men on the doorstep.

But the king speaks to her kindly and asks her to try the golden slippers.

The moment she slips them on, her rags once more turn into the azure gown and feathered cloak. And the king knows he has found the woman he wishes to marry, and he takes Yi Xian back to his island kingdom.

As for the stepmother and stepsister, they are killed in a rockslide.

Giambattista Basile by Nicolaus Perrey (W.Commons)

The first European version was written by the Italian poet and courtier, Giambattista Basile, in his 17th century fairytale collection, ‘Pentamerone’.

The story, ‘Cenerentola’, was set in the Kingdom of Naples, one of the most influential European capitals of the time.

Cenerentola comes from the Italian word, ‘cenere’, meaning ash or cinder, as servants were usually smeared with ash due to their cleaning work, and having to sit close to the fireplace to try and get warm.

The tale features the details expected in a ‘Cinderella’ story – a wicked stepmother and stepsisters, magical transformations, a missing slipper, and a search by a king for the mysterious owner of the slipper.

'The slipper left behind' - 'The fairy tales of Charles Perrault' - Harry Clarke (W.Commons)

This, along with other Basile tales, were retold by Charles Perrault in ‘Histoires ou contes du temps passé’ (‘Stories or Tales from Past Times’) in 1697, and the Brothers Grimm in ‘Grimms’ Fairy Tales’, published in 1812.

Perrault’s version, ‘Cendrillon ou la petite pantoufle de verre’ (‘Cinderella and the Small Glass Slipper’), is one of the most popular versions with his additions of the pumpkin, the fairy-godmother, and the glass slippers.

Illustration by Gustave Dore for Charles Perrault's 'Cinderella' (W.Commons)

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s version is titled ‘Aschenputtel’ (‘The Little Ash Girl’; ‘Cinderella’ in English translations).

'Aschenputtel' - Darstellung von Alexander Zick (W.Commons)

This version is more violent than Perrault’s tale; Cinderella’s father is still alive, and the stepsisters mutilate their feet to try and squeeze them into the small slipper.

Instead of a fairy godmother, Cinderella’s wishes are granted by a wishing tree, which she’d planted on her dead mother’s grave.

Illustration by Elenore Abbot, (W.Commons)

In the second edition, the brothers added a terrible punishment for the stepsisters because of their cruelty.

There are many other versions from different parts of the world, and I find this interesting – at the times the tales were written, there wouldn’t have been any exchange of cultural ideas, yet the basic kernel of the story can be found in those different tales.

To end, I want to highlight this article from the ‘World History Encyclopedia’ site, which debunks the claim that the Cinderella story originated in Ancient Egypt.

As this claim appears to be everywhere, as I found while researching this post, I believe it’s well worth a read.